Road Horse Biographies

[Hanover]

Lets use this thread for some individual histories of some of our favorite roadsters.

The favorite road horse of my era ( I wasnt around the national show ring scene until prob '87 or '88) is Shane. He was a multi-titled amatuer roadster who would have had several more world titles had he not had as one of his contemporaries the great Shining Brightly.

He spent several years as a decent racehorse until showing up at the Sugarcreek,OH riding horse auction one Friday where he commanded a final bid of 550.00 from a guy by the name of Ron King who noticed him for his fine, almost saddlebred conformation. Mr King took him to the Harrodsburg fairgrounds where Jackrabbit started his show ring lessons. Rabbit-who was always broke- immediately saw the potential for greatness in this horse & wanted to be partners with Mr King & work Shane until they could possibly sell him for some big bucks. Ron King however, who needed money & would rather make a quick buck, sold him out from under Rabbit to Edwin Freeman for 5000.00.

The rest is history as Freeman's grandson, Milward Dedman, showed Shane for a year or two before selling him to Flying V Farm's Art Viles for mega bucks. Only a couple years later Mr Freeman bought Shane back again for Milward who continued showing him until Shane's untimely death in Arrowhead Farm's barn fire some time later.

A sidenote on Shane's early career- He was part of arguably the greatest novice class in the history of Lexington Jr League in a class that also boasted The Natural, Happy Landing, & Bar None, among others. I think that Shane won that class & The Natural was second but can't remember for sure. Maybe Karen will remember & can let us know for the record.

Shane was by Dream of Glory who sired several very nice roadsters & whose prodigy was known for their unusual fine conformation. A few of his get were the aforementioned Shane, along with a WGC Canadian invader called Ellery, Invincible Summer, Geronimo, & a host of others. Dream of Glory was also the broodmare sire of Bar None who was the first WC road horse prospect that my dad, Kore Yoder sold.

[Skyduck]

My first horse as a kid was a retired trotter that had raced for 14 years until he retired. He held many records in NE back then. What a road horse he would have been. I rode him and he didn't hitch and never ever broke. I once drove him in a show against a couple of morgans that wanted a roadster to bike class and needless to say we absolutely blew them out of the ring and with my old homemade roadster cart the wheel bent and he pulled us around the ring with the wheel not turning and still lapped the morgans and didn't break stride at all and I think he was about 20 at the time. The old guy taught me to ride. What a horse and could he trot! He's buried here on the farm. His name was Thumbs Up by a stud called Follow Up and was originally owned by a dentist in Portland Maine before he gave him to me when he retired from the track.

[Hanover]

Here's a little Power Ranger bio:

Dad bought him sight unseen from an amish guy in Ohio who bought & sold a lot of standardbreds that came off the racetrack. 'Sounds Like Fun' -which is Power Ranger's registered name- had just come off the track & he was so skinny & banged up that he did nothing but pace for the first few weeks we had him.

Altho he is by Speed In Action & was originally raced as a trotter, the last guy who raced him at Raceway Park in Toledo Ohio had put pacing hobbles on him & raced him on the pace for a few starts before giving up & selling him. He was sored up from the hobbles & his overall condition was so run down that we turned him out & let him be himself & freshen up for a couple months before starting his show horse lessons.

He is one of the gamest horses we've ever had & it didnt take him long to start finding himself as he began feeling better & putting on weight. After working him for a little while we sent him to Jackrabbit who really put him together. Rabbit was stabled at a barn on Freeman Acres outside of Harrodsburg at this time, & Edwin got to see the horse worked quite a bit as he came out daily to check on his cattle & farm. Rabbit was also working some horses for Danny Bugg who got to see Power Ranger work & called dad about him. Being stabled together made for some friendly competition between the Freeman's & Danny Bugg. If you knew Jackrabbit, you know he was always trying to make a little commission, so as soon as he knew Danny was interested in the horse he told Edwin about it & Freeman wasted no time in calling up dad & buying the horse on the spot.

A few weeks later, at his first show, Power Ranger won the novice class at Lawrenceburg & followed that up with a reserve in the novice class at Lexington. At Louisville the next month, Power Ranger was on top of his game & was named the winner of the inaugural USTA class.

Milward continued showing him until after Lexington the following year when Lillian bought him for Raymond,earning Rabbit a nice commission which lasted him about as long as an ice cream cone on a hot day. :)

I've never driven a horse who was as powerful as Power Ranger. He was just as comfortable trotting a turn as he was coming down a straightaway! Raymond won many Louisville titles with him as well as staging some epic wagon battles with Pres Oder & Catch Me.

[kmmed1]

When Lillian bought Power Ranger for Raymond, it was a birthday surprise. We all knew about it, so when the truck pulled in, we were ready for the big surprise. Raymond comes strolling down from his office, and Lil asked him if he knew a horse was coming in, and where were we going to put it? Raymond said he didn't know about anything coming in, and started to head out to the truck. We are peeking out of stalls, so we could see the look on Raymond's face, when this pretty bay horse comes in the barn. Raymond took one look, and said that's Power Ranger. Lil said I know, Happy Birthday! Raymond admired him for a minute, and then proudly led him to a stall we had hurriedly made available. Power Ranger is still as game as they come, and will be making his final trip to Louisville this year, and then will be retired to live with Will Gillen, When & Where, and Dirt Devil.

[kmmed1]

My beloved Power Ranger made the most of his last trip to Louisville, by wining the open wagon and wagon championship. earning his 15 WC title, and his 8th WGC title. He will make one last trip to the show ring, when we retire him at Harrodsburg next year. There he can be enjoyed by the Mercer County people who supported him at the beginning of his show ring career, and will love to see him in his final show ring appearance.

[Silly Filly]

I'm sure everyone will feel Jackrabbit's presence at the retirement.

[cparker912]

and he was FLYING around those corners! I kept covering my eyes, even though I knew Mark was in full control...
A very well deserved retirement!!

[DeidreD]

I am probably a little bias but my favorite road horse of all time would have to be Dragster. I don't know a lot of his history, I am sure David could give us some more. I know that Jack Rabbit was one of the first to show him ( I have a video of him at Shelbyville), and I remember Bobby Talarico showing him. Danny Bugg actually sent him down to winter with us with Kentucky Wildcat a couple of times, and then we got him from Jerry Mariani. He was the most powerful road horse I have ever seen, I got to show him once and that was enough, he never wanted another horse to pass him, even after we won the amatuer class at Louisville we were headed down the shoot and I was at his shoulder and another horse went by him and he thought he had to go. He is retired here at the farm now, but wil not stay outside, he prefers to just wonder the barn aisle. He is still all heart. I also have a special place in my heart for Big Red!!